Robert.

"Ugh, not again!"-Robert told himself as he picked a pebble out of his shoe.
The soul of his right shoe had a small hole, but that was enough for that pebble to get in. He had been unemployed for 3 weeks now. Today had been the day of the big interview, if he had gotten the job he would've been able to pay back the money his best friend Alan had lent him. Unfortunately the interview didn't  go too well. They informed him that the position had already been filled, and if something opened up he'd be the first one to be called.

He slowly walked down that narrow street filled with people. It was so packed that one could barely take a full step without stepping on the person in front of him. As he made his way though the sea of bodies he passed a small restaurant, where he saw families gleefully chatting. The first thing that came to mind was his wife Lisa and son Mat. oh how he loved them both. Lisa and Mat meant everything to him and were the only reason pushing him forward. He wished he could take them out to eat but unfortunately his situation wouldn't allow it.

To top it off tomorrow was his anniversary but hope wasn't lost for he had a plan. He then entered a shabby old pawn shop on the corner of Willow street. He had been giving it a lot of thought and decided to sell good Old Benjamin. Now don't let the name mislead you. "Good Old Benjamin" was the name of his watch. It wasn't just any watch, it was an authentic Longines Enamel pocket watch and had been in the family since his grandfather was a young man. It would be hard letting go of good old Benjamin but his mind was set. He would sell Old Benjamin and use the money to buy Lisa the dress she had been wanting for some time now. After selling good old Benjamin for quite the sum of money, he set off to the mall to buy Lisa her dress.

Once in the store he browsed though what seemed like endless amounts of women's clothes. He couldn't make up his mind, nothing seemed worthy of being worn by his beloved Lisa. Then out of the multitude of clothes stood out a red dress. It was a scarlet cocktail dress.
This is it!- he thought to himself. He couldn't help but to imagine Lisa wearing it! Just the thought of it made his spine tingle. Without a second thought he bought it and headed strait home.

Robert couldn't wait to get home. He walked as fast as he could keeping pace. He resembled a locomotive as his heavy breaths made streams of steam that slowly faded into the darkness of that cold night. He was almost home, he couldn't wait to see the look on Lisa's face once he gave her the dress.

As Robert approached his block he began to notice more cars than usual and could make out what seemed to make out what seemed to be sirens. Confused and worried he began to run towards his house. Once there he was horrified to discover that his home along with the two neighboring houses had caught fire and nothing remained but burned rubble.

He desperately ran towards the ruins that remained but was obstructed by two officers who claimed the structure could collapse at any moment.

He was speechless. Robert felt as if he had something jammed in his throat and couldn't manage to make out a syllable. He then felt the warmth of his tears roll down his cold face and he collapsed to the ground crying.